Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Affix Meaning Knowledge In First Through Third Grade Students, Victoria Henbest

Victoria S. Henbest Publications

Purpose: We examined grade-level differences in 1st- through 3rd-grade students' performance on an experimenter-developed affix meaning task (AMT) and determined whether AMT performance explained unique variance in word-level reading and reading comprehension, beyond other known contributors to reading development.

Method: Forty students at each grade level completed an assessment battery that included measures of phonological awareness, receptive vocabulary, word-level reading, reading comprehension, and affix meaning knowledge.

Results: On the AMT, 1st-grade students were significantly less accurate than 2nd- and 3rd-grade students; there was no significant difference in performance between the 2nd- and 3rd-grade students. Regression analyses revealed that the AMT …

The Influence Of A Social Communication Intervention On The Syntactic Complexity Of Three Children With Language Impairment, Alyse Wheeler

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that children with language impairment (LI) exhibit difficulties with both social communication and syntax. This study analyzed the effect of a social communication intervention on syntactic development, focusing on grammatical complexity in three children with LI when enacting stories. The intervention included reading and enacting stories, playing games with picture emotion cards and journaling. Each child's mean length of terminal unit (t-unit), the number and type of subordinate clauses they produced per t-unit, and the grammaticality of their complex sentences was analyzed. While none of the children increased their mean length of t-unit or the grammaticality of …

Least-Squares Mapping From Kinematic Data To Acoustic Synthesis Parameters For Rehabilitative Acoustic Learning, Xiangyu Zhou

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Thousands of people suffer from dysarthria resulting from neurological injury of the motor component of the motor-speech system, and need to rely on alternative methods to communicate in daily life, such as body language or text-to-speech [1] . However, there are currently very few effective rehabilitative therapies for helping these patients improve their speech. Because of this, research is needed to develop better rehabilitative therapies. One such area of research is the use of involuntary acoustic learning. The Speech and Swallowing lab at Marquette University has an Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) system to collect kinematic data and a software system called …

Prediction Of Communication Risk Before 12 Months With The Iscbs: Group Outcomes At 3 Years, Kristi Leutzinger, Maggie Steinhauser, Emma Fleisher

UCARE: Research Products

This study reports communication outcomes of typically developing infants given the Infant Social and Communication Behavior Scales (ISCBS) at 2-12 months. Results indicate patterns of infant behaviors on the ISCBS that differed between infants who later demonstrated language impairments or autism at age three years from those who did not.

Intensifying English Vocabulary Instruction For English Language Learners, Lisa A. Fitton Ph.D., Kristina Nichole Bustamante, Mary Claire Wofford, Dana Brown, Clariebelle Gabas, Rachel Hoge, Carla Wood

Faculty Publications

English vocabulary development is a key component of language and literacy development for English language learners (ELLs) living in the United States. With the increase in the number of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) with ELLs on their caseloads, it has become increasingly important for SLPs to be able to facilitate vocabulary growth in ELLs. To assist SLPs working with ELLs in schools, the present paper provides an overview of strategies to enhance English vocabulary instruction for ELLs, drawing on evidence from research with both monolingual and bilingual students. Strategies included are: leveraging the native language, teaching comprehension monitoring, embedding instruction in …

Mining The Csdcas Data: Uses For Admission Tables, Grant Preparation, And Caa Reports, Larry Boles, Jim Tsiamtsiouris

School of Pharmacy Faculty Presentations

No abstract provided.

Global Engagement: Problem Solving And Information Exchange, Vinaya Manchaiah, Brenda Louw

ETSU Faculty Works

This interactive session provides opportunities (1) to share ideas for infusing global perspectives and goals into CAPCSD projects, conferences, and the work of committees and task forces; (2) to discuss ways to collaborate in an ongoing global engagement projects and help include content for 2017 conference; and (3) to create how-to guides for ethical and culturally attuned translational research, and clinical education, and service learning.

Modeling Children's Organization Of Utterances Using Statistical Information From Adult Language Input, Katie Lynn Walker

Theses and Dissertations

Previous computerized models of child language acquisition have sought to determine how children acquire grammatical word categories (GWCs). The current study seeks to determine if statistical structure can be corroborated as a factor in GWC acquisition. Previous studies examining statistical structure have dealt with word order rather than GWC order and only examined an overall success rate. The present study examines how well a computer model of child acquisition of GWCs was able to reorganize scrambled sentences back into the correct GWC order using transitional probabilities extracted from adult language input. Overall, a 50% success rate was obtained, but when …

Musical Training Influences Auditory Temporal Processing, Saravanan Elangovan, Nicole Payne, Jacek Smurzynski, Marc A. Fagelson

ETSU Faculty Works

Background: A link between musical expertise and auditory temporal processing abilities was examined.

Material and methods: Trained musicians (n=13) and non-musicians (n=12) were tested on speech tasks (phonetic identification, speech recognition in noise) and non-speech tasks (temporal gap detection).

Results: Results indicated musicians had shorter between-channel gap detection thresholds and sharper phonetic identification functions, suggesting that perceptual reorganization following musical training assists basic temporal auditory processes.

Conclusions: In general, our results provide a conceptual advance in understanding how musical training influences speech processing, an ability which, when impaired, can affect speech and reading competency.

Speech Adaptation To Kinematic Recording Sensors, Elise Hansen Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the time course of speech adaptation prior to data collection when using an electromagnetic articulograph to measure speech articulator movements. The stimulus sentence and electromagnetic sensor placement were designed to be sensitive to changes in the fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/. Twenty native English speakers read aloud stimulus sentences before the attachment of six electromagnetic sensors, immediately after attachment, and again at 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes after attachment. Participants read aloud continuously between recordings to encourage adaptation to the presence of the sensors. Audio recordings were rated by 20 native English listeners who were not part …

Psychometrically Equivalent Trisyllabic Words For Testing Spanish Pediatric Speech Recognition Thresholds, Jessica Lee Graham

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to use previously recorded Spanish trisyllabic words tested on adults in the measurement of the speech recognition threshold of Spanish-speaking children in order to (a) determine the words' appropriateness when testing children and (b) compare psychometric functions between adults and children. A selection of 28 frequently used trisyllabic words was chosen from previously recorded samples of male and female adult native speakers of Spanish. These words were then presented to 20 native Spanish-speaking children with normal hearing between the ages of 4 and 8 years. The words were presented starting at -5 dB HL …

Effects Of Two Gait Tasks On Language Complexity In Parkinson's Disease, Betty Ann Marquardt

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of dual tasking in Parkinson's disease (PD) have been studied for a number of years. Previous research has generally focused on changes in gait patterns while another task has been performed concurrently. Very few studies have focused on the impact of a concurrent task on speech or language. Language is key for communication: to express wants and needs, to maintain familial relationships, and for social interaction. Thirty-seven individuals participated in the study: 10 with PD, 14 neurologically healthy older (HO) adults, and 13 healthy younger (HY) adults. The participants were given a list of topics to consider and …

Semantic And Syntactic Processing In A Patient With Left Temporal Lobe Damage Secondary To Traumatic Brain Injury: An Fmri Study, Caitlin Moizer

Theses and Dissertations

The ability of the brain to change and form new neuropathways after brain injury is remarkable. The current study investigates the brains ability to form new pathways for language processing following traumatic brain injury (TBI), specifically a left temporal lobectomy. Two subjects participated in this study; one participant with TBI and one age-matched control. Sentence stimuli consisted of four types: semantically correct, semantically incorrect, syntactically correct, and syntactically incorrect. Participants underwent a fMRI scan while the auditory stimuli were presented in four blocks. Participants were asked to record if the sentence was correct or incorrect by pressing the corresponding button. …

Effects Of Subglottic Stenosis And Cricotracheal Resection On Voice Production In Women, Lisa Marie Mattei

Theses and Dissertations

Subglottic stenosis (SGS) is a narrowing of the airway in the region of the cricoid cartilage below the vocal folds and above the tracheal rings. Individuals with SGS experience difficulty breathing at rest and during exertion both of which become increasingly difficult with the level of stenosis severity. Some individuals also experience negative voice changes. Individuals whose stenoses significantly impact breathing generally require medical procedures or surgery, either balloon dilation or cricotracheal resection (CTR). CTR has been shown to improve patients' ability to breathe, but it can also result in permanent vocal changes. Alternatively, balloon dilation results in similar breathing …

Interfaces Between Linguistic Systems: Evidence From Child Language, Lyle Lustigman

Faculty Publications

Interfaces between grammatical domains have been considered from various perspectives in child language research and in general linguistics. The study aims to provide evidence for interfaces in acquisition of early clause-structure, based on longitudinal data from three Hebrew-acquiring toddlers. Two facets of their early speech output were examined: Usage productivity in verb-inflection, identified by a criterion of contextual appropriateness; and structural transparency/opacity of children’s speech output, with transparent forms being unambiguous in relation to their grammatical targets. These factors yielded two distinct developmental periods for the three children: I – from the onset of verb usage to productive verb inflection, …

Anticipatory Coarticulation And Stability Of Speech In Typically Fluent Speakers And People Who Stutter, Stefan A. Frisch, Nathan Maxfield, Alissa Belmont

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Publications

This project replicates and extends previous work on coarticulation in velar-vowel sequences in English. Coarticulatory data for 46 young adult speakers, 23 who stutter and 23 who do not stutter show coarticulatory patterns in young adults who stutter that are no different from typical young adults. Additionally, the stability of velar-vowel production is analysed in token-to-token variability found in multiple repetitions of the same velar-vowel sequence. Across participants, identical patterns of coarticulation were found between people who do and do not stutter, but decreased stability was found in velar closure production in a significant subset of people who stutter. Other …

Collaboration Occurring Between Professionals In Today's Schools, Kara Lynn Doglio

Theses and Dissertations

The collaborative service delivery model is beneficial in its approach as it allows educators and SLPs to work together to address communication impairments in naturalistic settings in order to maximize the functional potential of all students. The current utilization of collaboration as a viable service delivery option is unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify whether collaboration was occurring and with whom it was occurring. This study also sought to identify similarities and differences across four participant groups regarding perceived beliefs and reported practices in professional collaboration. While administrators took a separate survey than educators (general and special …

Maternal Anxiety Associated With Newborn Hearing Screening, Stephen J. Tueller, Karl R. White

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

The purpose of this study was to determine if newborn hearing screening increases maternal anxiety. Mothers whose infants were screened for hearing were asked how worried they were prior to hospital discharge and again six weeks later. They were also asked if they were more concerned about their baby’s hearing than they were about other aspects of the infant’s health and behavior.

Results showed that mothers worried as much or more about many other aspects of their infants’ health and behavior as about hearing. Mothers whose infants had a false positive screening result were initially more worried about hearing than …

Readability, User-Friendliness, And Key Content Analysis Of Newborn Hearing Screening Brochures, Nannette C. Nicholson, Samuel R. Atcherson, Patti F. Martin, Mary Gunn Spragins, Lauren Schlagenhauf, Richard I. Zraick

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Readability, user-friendliness, and key content are important components of newborn screening brochure design. Health information at a sixth grade or below reading level, designed for ease of navigation, with easily identifiable “action steps” can help adults with limited literacy skills find, understand, and use health information. The purpose of this study was to quantify the readability, user-friendliness, and key content components of newborn hearing screening brochures. Five readability formulae (FRE, F–K GL, FOG, FORCAST, and SMOG) were used to estimate reading levels of English language EHDI brochures (N = 48). Twenty-three participants assessed brochures for user-friendliness. Three participants assessed …

Wic Participation As A Risk Factor For Loss To Follow-Up In The Wisconsin Ehdi System, Elizabeth L. Seeliger, Rebecca A. Martin, Andrea N. Gromoske, Anne B. Harris

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

In 2011, Wisconsin’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program, Wisconsin Sound Beginnings (WSB), developed multiple strategies to reduce loss to follow-up (LTFU) for babies who did not pass their newborn hearing screening: Medical Outreach, Family Outreach, Regional Outreach and WIC Alert. WSB evaluated the outcomes of babies identified as at-risk for LTFU to determine whether WIC participation was an indicator of their risk for LTFU. Additionally, WSB evaluated whether babies who were identified as at-risk for LTFU and receiving WIC services in two WIC projects serving areas and populations with known health disparities, were at even greater risk for …